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More and more travelers want to feel they are contributing in some way to the place where they vacation. Giving back while on vacation has become a global movement sparking volunteerism and community outreach with tourists.

In Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, two top hotels share a heartfelt program that lets their guests feel good about supporting the community there.

Hotel Tropico Latino and Florblanca Hotel implement the “$5 Check Out Program” that allows their guests to add an optional charge on thei

If you are lucky, you will be spending your Christmas vacation in Costa Rica on an amazing tropical beach alongside the incredible Costa Rica rainforest at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge.

To help get you in the holiday spirit, here are some of the fun activities the Nicuesa Lodge staff has planned for you.

There will be special dinners on Dec. 24 for Christmas Eve and Dec. 31 for New Year’s Eve. The gala feasts will include roast pork, grilled whole fresh fish caught by Nicuesa staff, and other

Come January 2016, schoolchildren in the southern Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica will hopefully breathe easy with cleaner air.

Roads in front of seven elementary schools in the region, that are now unpaved dustbowls, will be the first in Costa Rica to be made of recyclable plastic, thanks to the Pave the Road initiative.

The southern Nicoya Peninsula is one of those iconic Costa Rica tourism spots, where you can find paradise beaches, world-class surf breaks, forested coastline, and charming towns

There is a magic in peacefully gliding along in a kayak, especially when it is on calm, smooth water along picturesque coastline.

Kayaking in Costa Rica in the “sweet gulf” of Golfo Dulce by the Osa Peninsula – one of only four tropical fjords in the world – it is like paddling across a giant mirror to the sky. Close to shore, the clear water’s blues and grays turn to liquid jade, reflecting endless shades of green palm trees and jungle that crowd the water’s edge. Look down and you’ll probably s

If eco-friendly travel and staying at sustainable tourism eco-hotels is a priority when you go on vacation, you’ll want to pay attention to Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rica eco-hotel was awarded the highest level rating of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program last month for the second consecutive year. Playa Nicuesa Lodge is one of only 41 hotels in Costa Rica that have received the highest rating of 5 Leaves in the CST Program by the Costa Rican Tou

Travelers can be environmentally conscious when going on vacation, and it doesn’t take much effort or time. Little things add up, and if everyone followed these sustainable travel tips, communities and the planet would benefit in amazing ways.

10 Easy & Simple Sustainable Travel Tips

1.  Re-use your hotel towels and sheets; don’t ask for new ones every day (you don’t at home!).
2. Turn off the lights and air conditioner when leaving your hotel room.
3. Don’t leave the sink tap or shower running water unnece

If you’ve never seen it, the amazing phenomenon of massive arrivals of hundreds of thousands of sea turtles coming ashore all at once to lay their eggs on Costa Rica’s beaches is one of the world’s most spectacular nature events.

They arrive literally in waves, slowly hauling their heavy bodies out of the ocean and up the beach. They wait for the high tide at night, using the high surf to propel them farther up the sand, and the protection of darkness against predators to dig their nests and l

Article by Shannon Farley

The last time I was at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, I was down at the beach cooling off from the hot sun in waist-deep tranquil waters of the Golfo Dulce, when suddenly there was a splash very close behind me. I turned quickly to look out toward the Gulf and was greeted by three Bottlenose Dolphins calmly gliding about 15 feet past me parallel to the beach.

This is how it is on Golfo Dulce in southern Costa Rica. During whale-watching season, you might see a Humpback

Article by Shannon Farley

Renting a vacation home in Costa Rica, especially one at the beach, is a great idea. Stay steps from the sand at beautiful Santa Teresa, Costa Rica in the new beachfront vacation home, Martha’s House.

The two-story octagon-shaped house is just off the beach and surrounded by lush tropical gardens. The house sleeps up to 10 persons with four air-conditioned bedrooms and three baths. Other luxury features include a fully-equipped kitchen, large swimming pool, Jacuzzi, saun

One of the most pristine ocean habitats in the world is located in Costa Rica -- the Pacific gulf of Golfo Dulce.

Located in the southern region by the Osa Peninsula, the 31-mile-long (50 km) gulf of Golfo Dulce is recognized by National Geographic as one of only four tropical fjords in the world, and it is the tenth deepest. With an average annual temperature of 86 degrees Fahrenheit, it is an extremely rare biome.

Given its low human impact due to its remoteness, the sheltered gulf is home to

What is it like to stay at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge?

The extraordinary Costa Rica eco-lodge is designed sustainablywith lodge buildings tucked into the forest back from the beach. All construction is from beautiful tropical hardwoods taken from naturally fallen or farmed trees, and recycled materials.

For accommodations at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, there are three one-bedroom cabins, one cabin suite, one two-bedroom cabin, four rooms in the two-story Mango Guesthouse, and the two-sto

Choosing to stay at eco-friendly hotels when you travel is a great way to help the planet. Now there is a simply way to make greener travel choices. The travel review website TripAdvisor has devised a certification program to help people make environmental travel choices to stay at eco-friendly accommodations around the world.

Called TripAdvisor GreenLeaders, the program awards badges at different status levels to eco-friendly hotels, lodges and B&Bs, from budget to luxury, that are all committed

One moment you’re walking along a rainforest trail enjoying the incredible sounds and sights, when suddenly you spot monkeys hopping from tree to tree. You definitely want to get pictures of that, so you go off the trail following the monkeys. Before long, you’ve been so busy looking up and chasing the monkeys that now you have no idea where you are, and more importantly, where the trail is.

You are lost in the jungle.

It can happen as easy as that. It’s happened to me. Would you know how to survi

What’s better than being in the rainforest?

Being in the rainforest with expert scientists who can tell you fascinating stories about the animals and plants that live there.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica has invited celebrated U.S. scientists Howard Topoff, Ph.D. and Carol Simon, Ph.D. – both professors’ emeriti of The City University of New York and former Research Associates at the American Museum of Natural History – to be special guest lecturers at the award-winning Costa Rica e

Summertime in the popular beach town of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica means it’s time to hang out on the beach soaking in the sun and playing in the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean. It’s a great time to have fun with family and friends on a Costa Rica beach vacation.

On the southern Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa is one of the best beaches to surf in Costa Rica. National surf competitions are held here annually.

Knowing what you are doing when you go in the ocean, taking precautions and water safety are t

The Nicoya Peninsula in the northwest region of Costa Rica in Central America is known as a “Blue Zone”. That means people here are more than twice as likely as elsewhere to reach a healthy age of at least 90 and frequently live to be over 100.

U.S. author and researcher Dan Buettner’s 2008 book, “The Blue Zones”, is written about his research with National Geographic and the world’s top longevity scientists to identify places around the world where people live measurably longer and better. After

When naturalist guides Erick Camacho and Jose Garro found the dead toucan below a tree near their staff housing at the Costa Rica eco-lodge where they work, it was an interesting discovery but just another day in the jungle.

However, the deceased toucan – or more importantly, its beak – has given a big boost of hope to saving “Grecia” the injured toucan in Costa Rica that had its beak mutilated by teenagers late last year and has become an international sensation as engineers and veterinarians tr

Costa Rica is a small country with a big success story in reforestation.

The Central American nation was nearly devastated by deforestation by the early 1980s. Now more than 30 years later, over 52 percent of Costa Rica’s land is covered with forest between national parks, private reserves and wildlife refuges.

Costa Rica’s progressive reforestation and environmental protection earned the country the accolade of being named the third best Green Country in the World in the 2014 Global Green Econom

Costa Rica is celebrating International Surfing Day on June 20 big this year. Costa Rica’s surfing “dream team” made national history on June 7 when they were crowned 2015 World Surfing Champions.

Costa Rica’s team won the overall gold medal in the International Surfing Association (ISA) 2015 World Surfing Games held at Playa Popoyo, Nicaragua, competing against 26 teams from around the world. The medal, along with the Fernando Aguirre World Team Trophy and the International Olympic Committee (I

When I stay at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, one of my favorite things to do is to swim in the giant tide pool down the beach about five minutes from the hotel.

The larger-than-Olympic-sized shallow sea water swimming pool is one of the best-kept secrets of the area. It is located between Pranamar Villas and “El Peñón,” or the big rock, where Santa Teresa Beach turns into Hermosa Beach – better known as “Playa Hermosa”. Since Santa Teresa and Playa Hermos